Mandy Moore The Next Big Disney Star?

Amanda Leigh “Mandy” Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. She grew up in Florida. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen-oriented pop albums So Real,I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore.

Moore subsequently branched out into a film career, starring in 2002’s A Walk to Remember and later appearing in the lead roles of other movies, such as Chasing Liberty, also aimed at teenage audiences.

Two of Moore’s later films, American Dreamz and Saved!, were satires. Her private life, including her relationships with tennis player Andy Roddick[1] as well as with actors Wilmer Valderrama and Zach Braff[3] became the subject of much discussion in the media. Her most recent album as of September 2009, Amanda Leigh, was released on May 26, 2009. Mandy Moore has sold more than 10 million records worldwide.

Early life

Moore was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, the daughter of Stacy, a former news reporter whom the Orlando Sentinel had once employed, and Donald “Don” Moore, a pilot for American Airlines. Moore’s father is of Irish and Cherokee descent, and her mother is of English and Jewish ancestry. Moore, who has two brothers, Scott Moore and Kyle Moore, grew up in Longwood, Florida, outside of Orlando, where the family moved shortly after her birth because of her father’s job as an airline pilot. She was raised in the Catholic religion, even though she is no longer a practicing Catholic, and attended Bishop Moore High School, a Catholic school in Orlando, as well as Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs.

Moore’s interest in singing grew after seeing the musical Oklahoma! She was also encouraged to perform by her maternal grandmother, who was her inspiration. Some of Moore’s first public exposure occurred when she sang the national anthem at several Florida sporting events. She subsequently came to the attention of the head of the artists and repertoire department at Epic Records after his friend, a FedEx employee, overheard her as she sang at a recording studio.

Personal life

Moore dated Philippines-born singer/actor Billy Crawford for a “few months” when she was younger.

Moore dated actor Wilmer Valderrama for eighteen months between 2000 and 2002. In 2006, Valderrama appeared on The Howard Stern Show and detailed that he and Moore were each other’s “first loves” although he did not claim that their relationship was sexual, as was alleged by several media sources who misquoted his remarks. Moore later referred to Valderrama as a “good guy” and a “gentleman” although she has stated that his comments about their relationship were “utterly tacky”.

Moore began dating tennis star Andy Roddick in 2002; Roddick ended the relationship in March 2004.

In November 2004, Moore began dating Scrubs actor Zach Braff. Referring to Braff, Moore said that she likes “good Jewish boy(s)… with a sense of humor”. In 2006, the two were incorrectly reported to be engaged and broke up later in 2006.

In early 2007, media reports linked Moore to Adam Goldstein, known professionally as “DJ AM” though the two were reported to have ended their relationship in March 2007.

Also in 2007, she briefly dated actor/singer Greg Laswell

Mandy Moore is set to follow in the footsteps of Miley Cyrus and Vanessa Hudgens, by becoming the next big Disney star.

Mandy has signed on to voice ‘Rapunzel’ in a new 3D animated version of the classic fairytale!

The story has been modernized a little, whereby instead of being held captive in the tower for her entire life, Rapunzel escapes and “goes on the run with a bandit as her captor pursues them”.

Dramas face tough time at Toronto festival

If there is anything Oscar voters love, it is a good drama. But as a key festival stop on the road to Hollywood awards got down to business on Friday, dramas were less on movie screens and more behind the scenes where the film genre is troubled.

The Toronto International Film Festival, which has long been considered a starting point for movie awards — Oscar winner “Slumdog Millionaire” got a big boost here last year — opened on Thursday night with Charles Darwin drama “Creation,” which came into the event seeking a U.S. distributor.

The festival boasts more than 330 films screening over 10 days, and ahead of opening week about a third of them lacked key distribution, including titles such as Atom Egoyan’s “Chloe” and Oliver Parker’s “Dorian Gray.”

Facing the recession at home, audiences have flocked to escapist fantasies and comedies, causing distributors of the dramas that vie for Oscars to snap up rights for those genres, leaving serious-minded fare in the dust.

Industry players say lovers of good dramas are not gone, nor is the genre dead. They see the issue as cyclical and more a marketing and cost problem than one of creative content.

Still, if you are making movies like 2007’s “No Country for Old Men,” which earned a best film Oscar, times are tough.

Director Jon Amiel, whose “Creation” tells of Charles Darwin struggling with his theories of evolution in the 1850s, called “drama” the new “five-letter word” in Hollywood.

“If you’re making a movie about a dead, bald Englishman, you’re not making a movie that even the indie distributors are flocking to buy these days,” Amiel said. “There are just many, many movies that American audiences are not going to see.”

The waning interest can be seen at box offices. Two big hits of the art house market this past summer were war drama “The Hurt Locker,” which earned $12 million — a solid number for a low-budget film but far less than twice the roughly $29 million earned by romantic comedy “(500) Days of Summer.”

“There’s a real conservative attitude (and) dramas are viewed as risky in today’s marketplace,” said Steven Beer, an entertainment attorney with law firm Greenberg Traurig.

Still, industry players say dramas can lure fans and make money. The key is devising the right production and marketing model that makes sense given today’s movie going climate.

In many cases, those marketing strategies call for grass roots campaigns that target key groups, lovers of science and period pieces for a movie such as “Creation,” for instance.

Production costs must fall to account for lower box office and declining DVD sales, which have dropped by double-digits on a percentage basis due in large part to competition from other forms of home entertainment.

“These have always been tough movies and they’ll always be tough movies. In a tough economic climate perhaps even tougher, which is why those models have to change,” said Tom Ortenberg, president of theatrical films at The Weinstein Co.

Industry watcher David Poland of MovieCityNews.com, said the drop in DVD sales had been a key factor in distributors’ unwillingness to back expensive dramas but, like the other experts, he noted there remained an appetite for the genre.

Still, distributors remain selective when looking at dramas, and that leaves little room for another breakthrough at Toronto 2009 such as “Slumdog” proved to be last year when it was acquired by Fox Searchlight ahead of awards season.

Harry Potter Half Blood Prince Full Movie Trailer 2009 HD

[media id=137 width=500 height=400]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, released on 16 July 2005, is the sixth of seven novels from British author J. K. Rowling’s popular Harry Potter series. Set during Harry Potter’s sixth year at Hogwarts, the novel explores Lord Voldemort’s past, and Harry’s preparations for the final battle amidst emerging romantic relationships and the emotional confusions and conflict resolutions characteristic of mid-adolescence.

Plot

As Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters commit crimes in both the magical and Muggle worlds, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge is replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour. Professor Snape, appearing to have rejoined the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort, is visited by Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. A terrified Narcissa tells Snape that her son, Draco, has received orders from Lord Voldemort, and asks Snape to make an Unbreakable Vow to protect her son and complete the task for him should he fail.

Harry Potter accompanies Albus Dumbledore on a trip to persuade retired Hogwarts professor Horace Slughorn to return to teaching. Harry notices one of Dumbledore’s hands is withered and burnt black, and he is wearing a ring with a distinctively-marked stone. Harry spends the remaining holiday at The Burrow with the Weasleys and Hermione, where they receive their O.W.L. results. Harry and Ron must take N.E.W.T. level Potions to become Aurors, but their O.W.L.s in the subject are too low to enrol in Snape’s Potions class.

At Hogwarts, Snape is named the new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, with Slughorn becoming the Potions teacher. Slughorn’s requirements are lower than Snape’s, so Harry and Ron are able to enrol in his class, but do not have textbooks. Slughorn loans them copies; Harry’s book has notes and corrections that yield better results than the textbook’s instructions, winning him a vial of Felix Felicis, a potion that infuses luck, on his first day in class. His book is inscribed as having previously belonged to the “Half-Blood Prince”.

Ron’s brother, Bill Weasley, is engaged to Fleur Delacour, of whom his mother disapproves. Auror Nymphadora Tonks makes comments suggesting she may harbour feelings for her now-slain cousin Sirius Black. However, it is eventually revealed that she has fallen for Remus Lupin, and, despite his protests that he is unworthy of her, they marry over the summer.

Ron and Ginny join the Gryffindor Quidditch team, which Harry now captains, as Keeper and Chaser respectively. This puts Harry in frequent contact with Ginny, who for a long time harbored an attraction to him. Now, however, she is dating Dean Thomas— unexpectedly making Harry jealous. This is exacerbated when Dean also gains membership on the team, replacing original member Katie Bell who is almost killed while attempting to deliver a cursed necklace under the influence of the Imperius Curse. Ron is displeased with his younger sister dating anybody, forcing Harry to ignore his attraction. After an argument with Ginny in which Ron’s dating inexperience is made clear, Ron takes up with Lavender Brown, creating a divide between him and Hermione. This rift is only mended when he accidentally consumes a love potion attracting him to Romilda Vane, and then poisoned mead which almost kills him.

Film

The film based on the sixth book was originally scheduled to be released on 21 November 2008, but was pushed back to 15 July 2009.The screenplay was written by Steve Kloves, and David Yates directed the film.The film is 153 minutes long, making it the third longest Harry Potter film of the series.

Translations

Along with the rest of the books in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was translated into 67 languages.A translation into Scots Gaelic is planned to be released by Bloomsbury in July 2009.